Export Controls

CCIA has long worked to ease or remove excessive export controls on high-tech products. Export controls were created during the Cold War to limit the ability of communist or rogue states to come into possession of state-of-the-art computing or other technology that could endanger our national security. However, world conditions have changed significantly. Rather than a U.S.-centric system, technological progress is now more likely to occur through collaboration with allies, and the current export control system obstructs the sharing of information. In addition, new technologies are increasingly being developed in the commercial sector, rather than the military sector.

CCIA’s View:

While CCIA strongly agrees with the need to protect our national security, we believe it is important to guard against measures that would unreasonably limit or burden the legitimate export business of technology companies. Practical considerations must be weighed in fashioning any of these controls. The ideal export control regime would be narrowly targeted at such exports that truly threaten our national security if obtained by adversaries, without impeding legitimate export operations. CCIA opposes broadly drawn export controls that fail to make this distinction and would unnecessarily include many technology products. In addition, we oppose unilateral U.S. export controls which would result in the ceding of markets to foreign companies whose countries have less rigorous controls. We look forward to reforms that result in regularly updated and justifiable “higher walls around fewer items.”

An often overlooked European success story is how hundred of thousands of European small companies have thrived thanks to the Internet. With a few clicks on the keyboard, the smallest European firm can now export to consumers across the EU, and the rest of the world.
Unfortunately, this success [ More ... ]

Washington -- A U.S. China commission is scheduled to hear testimony Monday morning on digital trade barriers in China. As a longtime critic of the trade barriers inherent in Internet censorship, the Computer & Communications Industry Association has previously testified as to why these [ More ... ]

Skilled Immigration Reform - Increase access to skilled foreign workers and entrepreneurs to ensure that the U.S. remains the global center of innovation. Immigration reform legislation must include provisions addressing the availability of employment-based and entrepreneur [ More ... ]

A day after the Russian Parliament voted to establish a blacklist of websites that its government could shut down, the Computer & Communications Industry Association said this step raises a red flag for the Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR) debate. While the legislation would require [ More ... ]

On initial glance H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act, introduced in the House this week, is twice was long as its Senate counterpart the PROTECT IP Act and proposes broad, sweeping Internet regulation.
Cybersecurity issues:
If enacted, this bill would drive internet traffic and domain [ More ... ]

Upcoming Events

About CCIA

CCIA is an international not-for-profit membership organization dedicated to innovation and enhancing society’s access to information and communications. CCIA promotes open markets, open systems, open networks and full, fair and open competition in the computer, telecommunications and Internet industries.